Chapter 47: September 1991, at last!
For disclaimer and author notes please see chapter 1.
1990-02-25 17:00 UTC, The Lovegood Home
Dumbledore stared at The Phantom in shock.
"Hu- How- How did you-", he sputtered.
"My dear Albus", grinned The Phantom, "you never tell people anything, why would you expect people to tell you?"
He turned serious. "Let me remind you that your silence would have eventually resulted in the untimely death of this innocent child, after your inactions had already forced him to lead a life without love, kindness, or indeed anything a normal child experiences".
Dumbledore looked at the others in the room. Not a shred of sympathy did he see on anyone's faces; even the children had an incongruously hard set to their little faces.
Nick spoke. "Having seen and heard what's been going on, Penny and I have decided to return to the UK, at least for the foreseeable future", he said. "We have also gotten quite fond of Harry and Hermione, and we intend to make sure they're well prepared - both for Hogwarts, and for you".
Dumbledore was slowly going from shame to anger; it seems they were reaching a flash point with him. The others, recognising the subtle change in his expressions, let Nick and Penny deal with him.
Penny gave him a challenging look, meant to push him over the edge, and Dumbledore obliged.
Drawing himself up to his full height, since Nick and Penny were both shorter than him, he said, "I do not think what I have done warrants so much hostility from old friends, even if those much younger are unable to understand why I did what I did".
"Do not think we understand what you did either, Albus", said Penny. "Or rather, we understand alright - you've become egotistical. You're a legend in your own time, but now you're in danger of becoming a legend in your own mind".
Hermione and her father grinned at each other, smiling at the obscure reference. That was, of course, a totally different Harry. She wondered idly if the Flamels were as avid movie watchers as her dad was, or it was just a coincidence.
Dumbledore bridled at the insult, his anger rising yet again. He flared his magic in an attempt to intimidate the group arrayed against him. For all their age and magical knowledge, Nick and Penny were not truly fighters.
If he had expected them to react in any way, he was disappointed. Neither Nick nor Penny changed either their stance or their expression. The muggles had not moved, and the children had not moved. Sirius, Remus, and Pandora had drawn their wands and raised them, though a look from Nick had them lower them again, pointing down but still held ready.
He heard laughter from behind him. I should have guessed, he growled to himself. The Phantom was not making any bones about his contempt for that little show of strength.
"In the words of the immortal Gregory Peck, Dumbledore, if you have to tell them who you are, you ain't", he said blandly. "I never flare my magic. I'd much rather put people in body binds and leave them in their own offices", he grinned.
Dumbledore paled. Fawkes had a burning day this morning, and would not be of any help for at least a day or two.
"If you are all done insulting me, and have nothing further to say, I would like to leave", he said in a disappointed tone.
"We are serious, Albus", said Pandora. "When these kids get to Hogwarts, you will leave them alone, or there will be hell to pay. Forget about all the boy-who-lived nonsense, forget about the prophecy - yes we know about it, and forget about using children to do your dirty work for you."
The Phantom took it up. "As you may have noticed, Voldemort's support base has pretty much disappeared. There are a few stragglers, but they are of no account."
"Did you kill all of them? Don't you think that was a little extreme? They dese-"
"I'll tell you what", interrupted Hobby. "You agree to stay in Azkaban, in Sirius's old cell in the maximum security wing, for the same amount of time he endured there, and we can discuss anything you want after you come out. Or you can split it between your pet death-eater and yourself - half the time each, in adjacent cells. Until then, do not expect us to justify anything we do".
"Why do you keep bringing up that point?"
"Because you have not explained yourself to our satisfaction, and you probably never will because you really have no reasonable explanation".
Dumbledore sighed. Deciding there was not much to be done here, he nodded at Nick and Penny, cold-shouldered everyone else, and walked to the door.
Hobby intercepted him. "One more thing. Don't bother telling Ollivander to inform you when Harry gets his wand. The one with Fawkes' feather in it will not choose him, when it comes time for Harry to get one"
A few seconds later, they heard the pop of him apparating away. The sound was unusually loud for someone of his power.
The next year and a half or so...
A year and a half had passed, in relative peace and calm. No Voldemort, no minions, no drama in the ministry, and no tricks from Dumbledore. At least as far as anyone could tell, anyway.
Things could almost be said to be boring. Early in their friendship, Hermione and her parents had asked Sirius what exactly he did for a living, or - if he didn't need to earn one - what he did to while away the hours. They'd been surprised to find that a lot of affluent wizards actually spent time playing politics, because, while a few really meritorious people could make it, by and large the whole society ran on connections.
This had led to lots of discussions about wizarding life versus muggle life. Initially, both the Grangers had been very upset to hear this, but eventually they realised that British nobility, around the turn of the century (before the first war), was probably not very different. At least for someone whose knowledge of it was almost exclusively from reading about Bertie Wooster and Gussie Fink-Nottle and such others!
Still, you could not take this parallel too far - wizarding society did not have a "House of Commons" to balance the Lords.
Another topic that came up was when Harry discovered Sherlock Holmes - both the books, and the currently running BBC series with Jeremy Brett. He made Sirius buy him a deer-stalker, and wore it for several weeks. Luckily he did not walk around with a magnifying glass to his eye, examining the floor or the ground as he walked. (Well, except that one time when Hermione said he could not carry off a Jeremy Brett impression. It was easily one of the funniest impressions ever done, more so because he did not intend it to be funny!)
Naturally, then, both kids "interned" at Lupin Investigations, mostly as a joke. Some of the staff had gotten to know Harry at least fairly well, and they would let them sit in on some of their internal discussions - at least on the simpler, less controversial/confidential, cases. To the surprise of everyone except Harry and Hobby, there were a few occasions where Hermione even contributed meaningfully - in the sense that she thought of something that the professionals had missed.
Hobby, meanwhile, had become informally apprenticed to Nick and Penny, and was - somewhat at a leisurely pace - learning the basics of alchemy. He'd never had the chance to like potions, though he knew he would have been at least decent at it, given a fair chance. He was really glad Snape was permanently out of Hogwarts; Harry would not be hobbled by a greasy bat hovering over him, making his life miserable with snide comments.
When he told Harry this once, Harry gave him a puzzled look. "Hobby, even if Snape were to be at Hogwarts, he can't treat me the same as he treated you. Or at least, he won't succeed. You had no one to bat for you, while I have so many, and it's all thanks to you. So... it's not that you got rid of Snape that is important here, it's that you gave me the support system you never had!" Saying which, Harry, and Hermione, who was listening to him with a beaming smile, gave Hobby a big hug.
Hobby was overwhelmed. Many a time he had found himself wondering if he had done the right thing by choosing to come back as someone else, and this went a long way to help him deal with that kind of self-doubt.
There was another person who made him feel even better about having come back as Hobby: Emily. The muggleborn girl Hobby had rescued from Malfoy's dungeons, was now in her sixth year at Hogwarts, and was a prefect to boot! If he had come back as Harry, he would not have been able to save Emily and all the other people in those dungeons.
Hobby had kept in touch with Emily at regular intervals, and she had even been invited to visit Harry and Hermione in the muggle world once or twice. They looked on her like an older sister. She was a strong, sensible, young woman, and Hobby almost felt like she was his niece or something - he was that proud of her.
On a related but less positive note, Sirius had informed Hobby, Harry, and Hermione that Draco Malfoy would be at Hogwarts. Narcissa was released just short of a month from the start of school. Despite all his anger, Sirius had quietly taken care of Draco, making sure the orphanage was treating him decently, (though not extravagantly), that he was not being bullied, etc., He had also made sure he got his Hogwarts letter, and had someone take him to get his supplies, and so on.
1991-09-01 11:00 UTC, Kings Cross
The three kids (Neville had joined Harry and Hermione) were in a compartment toward the end of the train. Emily was going to sit with them for a while, and later she would go off to find her classmates elsewhere in the train.
Sirius, Remus, the Grangers, and Augusta said their goodbyes to the kids, and started walking back out of the station, chatting amicably. Luna was not starting this year, so Pandora - who had become closer and closer to this group - was not there. Hobby had been there, in his Phantom persona, but he had disappeared after some time. Sirius thought he knew where the elf-man had gone, but did not say anything.
Hobby was on the train, but Harry and Hermione were not to know that he was They had strenuously objected to having Hobby around. They told him he'd already fixed all the problems anyway, and even if Quirrel had Voldemort on the back of his head, it would not hurt Harry because the horcrux inside Harry was gone. They also said he needed to concentrate on his alchemy.
Hobby was not to be dissuaded. He simply did the Slytherin thing of appearing to agree, but secretly told Nick and Penny he was taking some time off from alchemy, in order to shadow Harry for a couple of weeks at least. Just to make sure the old man did not try anything, despite all the warnings he had received.
Besides, Harry may not be affected by Quirrel's "passenger", but the passenger would still be after Harry. Who knew what he would try!
Hobby quietly put a charm outside so that neither Ron Weasley, nor Draco Malfoy, would notice the compartment, though anyone else would. He then slipped in and sat down - invisible - in a corner, weaving a very subtle diversion around himself so that, should some other kid join them, they would not attempt to sit on him.
After some time they heard voices outside the compartment.
"What the hell do you mean Potter is in that compartment, you idiot? There's no compartment there; it's just empty space", said a nasal voice in what would have been a drawl, in another world and another time.
Hobby smacked his forehead. He'd forgotten about Draco's sidekicks when he was doing the charm.
Hermione looked at the corner suspiciously, but did not say anything. Harry was too busy trying to listen to what was happening outside to pay attention to sounds inside the compartment.
Evidently, father being executed, and mother in Azkaban for three years, does not suffice to bring down the Malfoy spirit. Hobby wondered how this worked. He knew that Azkaban was somewhat of a badge of honor for the crazy witch Bellatrix, but had thought the Malfoys prized their image more than anything else.
He was not surprised that Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe were here - after all he was the one who had decided those boys' fathers were just muscle, and left them alone.
What did surprise him was finding out that Draco Malfoy appeared to have the same sway over them that the one in his world did. He made a mental note to have Sirius check Narcissa's financial situation; maybe he was being too generous.
Meanwhile, the door was pushed open, and the three boys stepped in. Hobby watched silently. Either Harry or Hermione could take care of all of them with the training they had been getting so he was not worried.
"Potter", said Malfoy.
"I'm sorry do I know you?" asked Harry. He knew who he was of course, but only because Hobby had told him, which was off the record so it didn't count.
"I am Draco Malfoy", said the blond. Hobby noticed that his clothes were not of as fine a cut as he remembered from his days in the other timeline. If Sirius had taken fine clothes into account in his allowance, clearly that money was being diverted.
Harry did not get up, and did not offer his hand. "I'm Harry Potter, but then you already knew that".
Draco looked at Neville and nodded politely when Neville introduced himself. He then looked with the beginnings of a sneer at Hermione.
(Hobby suddenly remembered that Snape was only under house arrest. He could not leave, but others could visit him. He had assumed that Draco had not been taken to visit him while he was in the orphanage, but was that really true? And if it was, then... Wow, I didn't realise you could teach someone how to sneer that fast, he smiled to himself.)
"The name's Granger. Hermione Granger", said Hermione.
If she intended to insult Malfoy, she did it masterfully. Not that Malfoy knew anything about James Bond, but Harry did, and to some extent Neville also (by associating with them). They both fell about laughing at Hermione's words and tone, and that was insulting to Malfoy.
Goyle and Crabbe were the surprise though, and Hobby could not believe his ears and eyes.
"Mr Potter", said Gregory Goyle, smiling and with his hand out. "My father tells me he owes your godfather and your patron for showing him the error of his ways. He wanted me to tell you he has completely changed his opinions on muggleborns" - not mudbloods?, though Hobby - "and half-bloods because of his experiences at, well, he thinks it may have been Black Manor but he's not sure. He also wanted me to tell you he would never ever even think of kidnapping a child".
Crabbe came forward too. For some reason, he was less articulate. (Was this true in my timeline?, wondered Hobby). "What he said. My father and his father both told us to tell you this".
It was unclear who was more shocked at all this - Malfoy, or Hobby (still invisible). Both were staring goggle-eyed at Goyle and Crabbe, with of course diametrically opposite feelings behind the shock.
Meanwhile, Harry stood up and politely shook both their hands, saying "nice to meet you, and nice to hear what you said. I'll be sure to pass this along to Sirius, and... oh what did you mean 'patron'?"
"That wizard who calls himself The Phantom", said Goyle. "He seemed to have taken you under his protection, as if you needed more than Black".
"Oh he's kind of like an uncle to me and Hermione now", said Harry, making sure to include - despite their assurances - that Hermione was also under The Phantom's protection. He heard Hermione muttering "Hermione and me, not me and Hermione" under her breath, and gave her a sidelong glance and a grin.
Goyle and Crabbe nodded politely, turned around, and left the compartment, leaving Draco hanging.
Clearly, whatever time he had spent with Snape, and one month with Narcissa, were not sufficient to prepare him to handle unplanned situations. If the rest of Slytherin had been the old one, he would have been eaten alive the first week.
He turned around and walked off in a huff. He didn't even know how to deal with his recalcitrant minions. Quite possibly, his former minions, now.
1991-09-01 18:00 UTC, the Great Hall, Hogwarts
As Hobby watched the age-old ceremony, his mind went back to his first year. He could remember almost everyone who had any role to play - good or bad - but he was surprised to see so many names and faces that he could not remember. Some, like Sally Ann Perks, he vaguely remembered, but it was as if she was only there in his first year and somehow disappeared - unremarked by anyone, even among the staff - subsequently.
But there were at least a dozen others whom he just could not remember, try as he might. He wasn't sure if he could extract that memory in a pensieve - how solid were memories carried across death and a species change? He'd have to look into it next time he visited Nick and Penny. If it indeed turned out that they did not exist in his memories, these must be all the children that he had inadvertently saved from the dungeons over the years! They did, all, appear to be muggleborns, so the chances were high that that was indeed the case.
Neville went to Gryffindor, as before. As did Ron Weasley. Curiously, Hobby did not detect any attempts from him to even approach Harry - even at the station, there was no sign that Molly Weasley was looking for the boy-who-lived. Presumably, the showdown between her and the Granger girls at Harry's birthday party had turned her off. He was mildly sad, but not overly so. Harry had enough support now, as he himself had reminded Hobby, and did not need the Weasleys.
Hermione and Harry both went to Gryffindor too. He had not told them what house they were in in his time (at least not explicitly), not wanting to influence them in any way, but he was glad to see it anyway. The other possibility was, of course, Ravenclaw, but he wasn't sure if a Ravenclaw Hermione would manage to set fire to Snape's robes if it became necessary! (Of course he would make sure Quirrel did not try anything like that, so this was more a hypothetical situation).
He had, he remembered, once rationalised the contrast between Hermione's reputation among his classmates as a rule follower, and the occasions when she broke rules or opposed authority. He had realised that she followed rules and obeyed authority, as long as she believed it did not affect Harry, or if it did, it was in his interest, not against. A rule that appeared designed to keep him safe, she would follow religiously. But if there was risk to Harry's life or limb...
He was jolted out of his introspection by the headmaster's voice. He was saying something that Harry was absolutely sure he should not, would not, could not, say this time.
"...and the third floor corridor on the west side is out of bounds to anyone who does not wish to die a violent death".